As Simple as ABC?: Issues of Transition for English Language

A Level Students going on to study English Language/ Linguistics in Higher

Education

THE SIXTH FORM PERSPECTIVE

Angela Goddard & Adrian BeardYork St John University

Data Sources: AS Level students

April 2006: 271 questionnaires - students asked to rate their courses for interest, relevance, variety(12 Comps, 4 Ind, 3 FE, 1Gr, 1 6th coll)

July 2006: 3 focus groups (32 students) intendingto go to university. Asked about language topicsthey hoped to study, and about learning andteaching in school/HE(10 Comps, 1 Gr, 1 FE)

April 2006: 3 focus groups of teachers

accompanying AS students – asked about

approaches to teaching and learning, links

with HE (5 Comps, 3 Ind, 2 FE, 1 6th coll)

June & October 2006: 61 teachers on INSET

programmes questioned about their subject

knowledge & previous training

Data Sources: A Level Teachers

National assessment: Who’s Who

QCA

AQA

EDEXCEL

OCR

WJEC

CCEA

National assessment: Time line

• 6 module system finishes with A2 in 2009

• 4 module system begins for AS in 2008

• This means new specifications with some material inevitably ‘lost’

AS/A2 Numbers

Figures for Summer 2006:

AS: 24,387 (c.67% female, 33% male)

A2: 18,370 ( c.64% female, 36% male)

English Language: QCA Assessment Objectives 2008

• Linguistic methods & terminology• Concepts and issues in the construction

and analysis of spoken and written language

• Understanding of context• Expertise and creativity in the use of

English• Show knowledge of key constituents of

language

AS/A2 CONTENT

Common to all courses in 2008: • familiarity with traditional notions of language

‘levels’• analysis of varieties of spoken and written data,

including texts over time• study of some sociolinguistic topics • an individual research investigation into an area

of language study• students producing their own texts through

various kinds of writing (and perhaps speaking)

English Language Units (AQA Spec B from 2008)

1. Categorising Texts : (genre theory )2. Creating Texts: Analysis of a style

model; creation of own text; analytical commentary

3. Developing Language: acquisition and change

4. Investigating Language: Data collection & analysis; creation of a media representation of this

From National to Local

• In effect the ‘national’ A level specification becomes customised at a more local level depending on the nature of the institution and its students

• So a multicultural comprehensive is likely to take a different approach to content and principles from a monocultural grammar school ( if it does English Language at all)

Grade A

• At A level approximately 13% are awarded grade A

• The comparative figure for English Literature is approximately 25%

STUDENTS INTENDING TO TAKE ANOTHER SUBJECT TO HE

When asked which subject at HE, from 202 responses, 76 different subjects were named including:Architecture, Art and Design, Business, Chemistry, Dance, Fashion, Film, Geography, History, Law, Maths, Media, Medicine, MFL, Nursing, PE, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Teaching, Theology, Vet Science

AS Students

• Had enjoyed:

Accent and dialect work

Representation

Original writing

Language & gender

Language in the media

Language & technology

• Saw their learning as:

Group-oriented

Participatory

Interactive & discursive

‘Independence’ meant

presenting own ideas;

reading, if set, was in order

to do a task afterwards

Independent Reading

32 AS students had indicated they might go on to read English Language

• 3 said they had been given a reading list

• 19 had no recommended reading at all

• 10 had been given short readings and extracts to study

AS Students

• Hoped HE courses would offer:

Language acquisition

Language & gender

Language in the media

Accents & dialects

Language & power

Sociolinguistics

• Expected HE courses to involve:

A wider range of teaching staff

Very small interactive sessions as well as lectures

Essay writing and independent study

STUDENTS INTENDING TO CONTINUE SUBJECT TO HE

On 5 point scale they rated their A level English Language:

Interest: 87% Excellent – Good

Relevance: 77% Excellent – Good

Variety : 60% Excellent – Good

A Level Teachers

In their own teaching, try:

Not to be too didactic

To work from data

To encourageindependence

To accommodate a wide range of ability levels and needs

In their subject knowledge, many feel:

That teaching A Level Lang is rewarding but…

That they are under –prepared for some aspects of the subject and…

Unfamiliar with the HE sector in this subject

Teacher Subject Knowledge

61 ‘1st time’ teachers were surveyed

1.Did you teacher training include A level language? Yes : 12 No : 49

2.Do you need help with subject knowledge as much as methodology? Yes 53 No: 8

UCAS: WHAT’S THE SUBJECT CALLED?

English leads to English Language as one optionEnglish Linguistics Studies as another……………………………………………English Language then offers courses in both English Language and English Language and Linguistics but…..English Linguistics Studies offers neither

UCAS: WHAT’S THE SUBJECT CALLED?

What do the following courses mean?

• English and English Language

• English Language and English

• English with English Language & Communication

• English and Language and Linguistics

• English Studies and English Language/Linguistics

WHAT’S THE SUBJECT CALLED?

Questions for internal consideration:• What is meant by English?• Are subject/course names the result of

institutional battles and compromises?• What do your course names mean outside of

your own peer group?• What are you saying ‘about this degree’ in

UCAS site? For example, what does this entry requirement mean?: “English Literature or English – Language & Literature required”

STUDENT EXPERIENCE AT LEVEL 1

Question: Was A Level English Language a

good preparation for your degree course?

Yes = 112 ( 78%) No = 32 ( 22%)

STUDENT EXPERIENCE AT LEVEL 1

Question: Did you repeat any material from A Level in level 1of your degree?Yes = 96 ( 71%) No = 40 (29%)

Question : Did the repetition bother you?Yes = 4% No = 96%

Question: Has your course so far matched your expectations of what it would be when you applied?Yes = 180 ( 82%) No = 39 ( 18%)

STUDENT VOICES AT LEVEL 1

At A Level I was guided through the course. I had contact with my tutor at least three times a week on a one to one basis and my class size was never above 10. University teaching is quite daunting, particularly the size of lectures and the lack of personal tutoring

Independent learning is studying from home or library, but doing it on your own…I do it…but motivation can be affected when there seems to be too little guidance

LECTURERS’ VOICES

Students are especially able to say things about texts.

Some students worry about structural aspects and are scared of difficulty.

They lack the confidence to analyse because they are uncertain of the metalanguage.

OVERVIEW FROM HE PERSPECTIVE

• Where lecturers knew about the nature of A Level work, they tended to be more positive about their students’ abilities

• There was a general perception that students arrived with a culture of dependency and insecurity

• Most lecturers were concerned about their students’ lack of metalinguistic knowledge

Conclusions & recommendations for HE

• HE programmes – transparency & naming• HE tutors - knowledge of A Level helps• Metalanguage – how can it be best

approached?• Teacher training/links with school sector• Independent learning – what is it? how can

it be developed in HE contexts?• Planning for transition – eg front-loading of

resources

LAST WORD

I have found the transition from a level to degree to be quite a natural progression. I think I would have struggled with this degree course if I had not taken English Language at A level.